Police in Makueni County are detaining a 20-year old woman who allegedly abducted a six-year-old girl from Kilifi County on Monday.
Sarah Sensoria alias Shantel was arrested on Tuesday while travelling to Nairobi in a Quick Bus belonging to Messina Bus Services.
She was also identified as Cynthia Chepkorir but had no national identification card.
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Makueni County Police Commander Joseph Ole Napeiyan through a phone call to K24 Digital said that police acted on information from DCI officers in Kilifi South following reports of a missing girl Loveliness Hamisi.
The same reports were widely shared on social media with a picture of the minor attached.
"We communicated with DCI officers from Kilifi South where the initial report was made that a lady said to be from Siaya who lives in Kilifi was missing together with the girl. Upon investigations, the two were spotted in Mombasa and the officers suspected that they might be on the move to Nairobi," the police boss said.
He added that the officers communicated with the colleagues in Makueni to conduct a random check on every vehicle and luckily the suspect was nabbed in a Quick Bus around 11:00pm on Monday night in Makindu town with the minor.
The girl communicated in Swahili language only.
According to the bus's conductor Geoffrey Chege Irungu, the two boarded the bus at Mwembe Tayari Bus Station in Mombasa at around 15:00 hours heading towards Nairobi.
"The officers had the suspect's particulars and they were seated on seat no. 28 with girl and a receipt No. 1696. She was arrested in Makindu at around 10:50 Pm on Monday night while the bus stationed at Makindu Town due to curfew hours, waiting to continue with its journey Tuesday morning," he added.
Upon interrogation, the officers found out that the missing girl was the same as the one missing in Kilifi and matched the information making rounds on social media.
Napeiyan said the suspect claimed that the reason she took the girl was because she was being tortured by her parents.
"The suspect claimed that the minor was being mistreated by her parents and was not even attending school. That is why she decided to take her to their rural home in Siaya County," Said Napeian.
DCI officers from Kilifi North are expected to take Sarah and the abducted child back to Kilifi for further interrogations and possible legal action.
The police commander cautioned that alarming cases of child abduction were being reported and the Sarah might be used to find the other suspects involved in the kidnapping syndicate to identify whether there is any link or a possible syndicate operating countrywide.
He called upon the transport sector especially trucks and buses operating along Nairobi-Mombasa Highway to be on the lookout for minors who might be suspiciously travelling and take their details and their destination and make reports to the police.
